A year after it began to preach from the confines of the Russian embassy in the capital, the Russian Orthodox Church of Russia formally introduced itself to the capital’s Christian fold with a brief ceremony this weekend.
The Church, which does not have space to conduct services in the country, has moved the government to acquire land in the capital to build a shrine. The demand was taken up by
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin, who was in India earlier this week with a large trade delegation, Manoj Kumar, a spokesperson and a legal advisor to the Church said.
“It will be integrated into the agenda of Russian Premier Valdimir Putin, who is visiting India next month,” the spokesperson said.
Russia has given land to ISKCON to build a temple and seeks a reciprocal gesture from India for the Russian Orthodox Church, he added.
The Russian Orthodox Church is one of the biggest of the Eastern Orthodox Churches in the world dating back to 988 AD. After the 1917 Revolution and under the Communist regime, the activities of the Church was controlled and members were persecuted.
But the liberalisation of the Soviet regime in 1988 saw a revival of the Church. The order manages 700 places of worship around the world.
The Russian Orthodox Church in India traces its links to the ancient church of St Thomas in South India.
It has 500 followers in India, Father Grennady Moroz, the head of Russian Orthodox Church in Pakistan, Nepal and India said.
“Many Hindus are keen to convert to the Russian Orthodox Christianity that preaches an ancient version of Christianity as laid down by the apostles,” Moroz said.
He said in Pakistan, the Church has 60 members, mostly from the diplomatic missions, and 40 in Nepal. In the capital, 120 members regularly flock to the sermons, he said. The Church was launched with a showcase of Russian musical and ballet at the Russian Cultural Centre.
Addressing the introduction ceremony, senior Congressman Manish Tiwari, one of the several non-Christian friends of the Russian Orthodox Church: said
“Christianity is and remains, in its ever expanding interplay of streams, one of the oldest faiths in India.”
“The constitution of India has been a guarantor of religious freedom. This philosophy of ‘sarva dharma sambhav’ has allowed us to permit the establishment of a constellation of institutions by various religious minorities. This exchange hasn’t just enriched the minorities. The osmosis of ideas, universal faith, and cultural renaissance have become India’s contribution to the development of the new world order,” Tiwari said.
He said
“a befitting Orthodox Church in Delhi, which will engage both Russians and Indians, will be a satisfying milestone in this journey”.
Interesting, all the Indian Orthodox Christians I’ve met were Oriental, not Russian Orthodox. They’re all located in a southern portion of India (Kerala?), and from a region so small that when you meet two Orthodox Christians, they’re related or know one another.
Considering how Christians are a persecuted minority in India, good luck with a Russian Orthodox Church that isn’t just used by foreigners in India.
Yeah, what about those Oriental Orthodox churches? Aren’t they the ones that descended from St. Thomas?
The Indian Orthodox Church has over 2.5 million members, with 30 dioceses stretching across the globe, including the Delhi diocese, The Delhi diocese itself has over 10 churches.
There are also Nestorian churches in India too, that claim the Thomasine legacy. Even some Protestant churches claim to be St. Thomas’s original church (just in a “reformed” form).
The Eastern and Oriental churches are 95% of the way toward restoring full communion already. Indeed, intercommunion is already being practiced, unofficially, in some parishes. It’s only a matter of time….
The Indian Orthodox Church has in these last years had its own massive problems in terms of schisms within itself- hence it will be interesting to see which part the Eastern church will seek communion with exactly. Not only that but the Churches in India especially ‘high form’ churches still have massive problems in terms of discrimination to dalit classes etc still being persecuted within Christian circles were the caste system has been perpetuated and ‘Christianised’. I am very happy that the Church is actively evangelising there- something definitely needs to stand out from the huge mismash of faiths and beliefs- and what better that the TRUTH ?
I also wanted to point out that I really pray that one day there will be saints from the Church from INDIA or SRI LANKA or NEPAL and that there will be remembered as the Chinese Martyrs of the Boxer rebellion are. I am very saddened that I looked everywhere for a saint who has been actively evangelizing my part of the world only to find none… except Saint Thomas who seemed reached India, but since him the rest of South Asia seems just to have been forgotten 🙁